Bahagian yang diturunkan di Makkah kira-kira dua pertiga daripada al-Qur’ān, dan ia dinamakan ayat-ayat Makkiyy. Secara keseluruhannya, ayat-ayat ini hampir tidak membincangkan satu hukum pun; sebaliknya, ia tertumpu kepada menjelaskan asas-asas agama dan menyeru manusia kepadanya, seperti iman kepada Allah dan Rasul-Nya ﷺ, Hari Kiamat, perintah mendirikan solat, pensifatan dengan akhlak mulia seperti kejujuran dan amanah, serta larangan terhadap perbuatan keji seperti zina, pembunuhan, mengebumikan anak perempuan hidup-hidup, dan kekurangan dalam sukatan dan timbangan dan sebagainya. Bahagian kedua yang diturunkan di Madinah hampir sepertiga daripada al-Qur’ān, dan ia dinamakan ayat-ayat Madaniyy. Ia merupakan ayat-ayat muamalat (urus niaga) seperti jual beli, sewa dan riba; daripada hudud, seperti had zina dan curi; daripada jinayat (hukuman bunuh), seperti membunuh orang yang membunuh secara sengaja atau hukuman terhadap perompak jalan raya; dan daripada bayyinat (bukti-bukti persaksian), seperti kesaksian zina dan selainnya. Turut diturunkan hukum-hakam yang berkaitan dengan ibadat (‘ibadat) seperti puasa, zakat, haji dan jihad. Daripada ini jelaslah bahawa walaupun hukum-hakam solat diturunkan di Makkah, ia tidak membentuk satu badan hukum, tetapi merupakan pengetahuan tentang satu jenis hukum. Adapun apa yang diturunkan di Madinah, ia mengandungi segala ahkam, sebab itulah pengetahuan tentang hukum-hukum sedemikian dinamakan fiqh. Oleh itu, lebih tepat bagi kita untuk mengatakan bahawa fiqh bermula di Madinah, dan oleh kerana fiqh terdiri daripada hukum-hukum amali, ia diturunkan untuk menangani peristiwa-peristiwa yang telah berlaku. Ayat-ayat hukum kebanyakannya berkaitan dengan peristiwa-peristiwa yang telah berlaku, maka pihak-pihak yang berselisih akan merujuk penghakiman kepada Rasulullah ﷺ, dan baginda akan menghukum di antara mereka menurut peraturan yang telah Allah wahyukan kepada baginda, atau apabila timbul masalah yang memerlukan penyelesaian, satu ayat atau beberapa ayat yang menyatakan hukum akan diturunkan. Inilah maksud al-Qur'an diturunkan secara beransur-ansur (munajjaman). Oleh itu, aspek perundangan amat jelas dalam wahyu al-Qur'an. Ayat-ayat tersebut tidak membincangkan andaian-andaian yang mungkin berlaku; sebaliknya, ia membincangkan isu-isu yang benar-benar berlaku dan masalah-masalah yang benar-benar wujud di antara manusia. Al-Qur'an terus diturunkan sehingga tahun ketika Rasulullah ﷺ berpindah ke alam yang tertinggi (al-rafiq al-a'la). Allah menyempurnakan dan melengkapkan agama ini, dan Dia mewahyukan kepada baginda ayat terakhir, iaitu firman-Nya dalam Surah al-Baqarah:
The portion that was revealed in Makkah approximates to about two thirds of the Qur’ān and they are designated as the Makkan verses (makkiyy). In their totality they barely deal with a single hukm, rather they are confined to explaining the fundamentals of the deen and calling people to them, such as the belief in Allah and His Messenger , the Day of Judgement, the command to perform Salah, characterisation by moral attributes such as honesty, trust, and forbidding evil actions such as fornication, murder, burying girls alive, deficiency in the measure and scales etc. The second portion that was revealed in Madina is close to a third of the Qur’ān and they are designated as the Madinan verses (madaniyy). They are verses of mu’amalat (transactions) such as selling, renting and usury and from the hudud, such as the hadd of zina (fornication) and stealing, from the jinayat (capital punishments) such as killing the one who killed someone intentionally or punishment of highway robbers and from the bayyinat (testimonial evidences) such as the testimony of zina and the rest of the testimonies, as well the remaining rules concerning the worships (‘ibadat) such as fasting, zakah, hajj and jihad were revealed. From this it becomes clear that even though rules of prayer were revealed in Makkah they do not form a body of rules but knowledge of a type of rule. As for what was revealed in Madina, they consisted of all the ahkām, which is why knowledge of such rules is considered fiqh. Therefore, it is more accurate for us to say that fiqh began in Madina and since fiqh constitutes practical rules, they have been revealed to treat incidents that have taken place. The verses of ahkām more often than not were in connection to the events that had taken place, so the disputants would refer judgement to the Messenger of Allah and he would judge between them according to the rules that Allah had revealed to him or on the occasion of problems requiring solutions an ayah or ayaats stating the hukm would be revealed. This is what it means for the Qur’ān to be revealed gradually (munajjaman). Therefore, the legislative aspect used to be quite evident in the revelation of the Qur’ān. The ayaats did not treat assumptions that may happen; rather, they treated issues that actually took place and problems that actually take place between people. The Qur’ān continued to be revealed until the year in which the Messenger of Allah left for the Sublime Companion (al-rafiq al-a’la). Allah perfected and completed the deen and He revealed to him the last ayah which is His saying in Sura al-Baqara: